Wheeling his bicycle through Super Sunday yesterday, Jeff Stoffa looked around and quickly summed up the essence of the annual street festival.

"It brings together Allentown," Stoffa said.

And what a medley it was.

From Yocco's hot dogs to arroz con pollo. From tie-dyed shirts to T-shirts chronicling last winter's memorable snowstorms. The T-shirts were a local softball team's creative fund-raiser.

There was no shortage of food or entertainment, and no shortage of information: on voter registration, the preservation of Allentown's historic row homes, neighborhood crime watches, political candidates and God.

Super Sunday, started in 1975 as a pre-Bicentennial festival and a celebration of Allentown's All-America City award, brought the city together in different ways yesterday.

The people who crowded a five-block area of the Hamilton Mall reflected Allentown's diverse population. They walked side-by-side, mingling mostly around entertainers.

The post-summer festival drew them to a downtown some admitted they rarely visit otherwise.

"It livens up the downtown," said Ken Stanley who attended Super Sunday with his wife, Charlene, and two young daughters.

Charlene Stanley, who has lived in Allentown for 17 years, said she comes to Super Sunday regularly.

"This is our city. We have to support it," she said.

Jeanette Matyus was among a thick crowd of spectators transfixed by dancers from the Hispanic-American League of Artists. "It's a shame we can't be here every day. If these crowds were here every weekend, it would be great."

Allentown, a quintessential northeastern American city, is wrangling with the complicated process of revitalizing its downtown shopping area.

On an ordinary Sunday, Hamilton Mall is largely desolate, most of its shops closed tight.

The board, which promotes the city's positive features, bestowed its first Ambassador of the Year Award to David Humphries, an engineer who's been active with the Old Allentown Preservation Association for three years.

Humphries is credited with winning a $75,000 state grant, which will help finance the restoration of 15 homes during the next year.